donny hathawayb. 1st October 1945, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
d. 13th January 1979, New York, U.S.A.
Donny Hathaway hailed from Chicago, Illinois, although he grew up in St. Louis with his grandmother, Martha Cromwell, who was a respected Gospel singer in her own right.
Donny grew up, as did many of his contemporaries, with Gospel roots.
He studied music at Howard University in Washington during 1964, where his room mate was Leroy Hutson.
The pair were later to pen the song 'The Ghetto', together.
Donny majored in musical theory before performing in a cocktail jazz group called the Ric Powell Trio.
He was then employed as a producer with Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label, while a duet with June Conquest, 'I Thank You Baby', became his first hit in 1969.
Donny later worked at the Chess and Stax labels with The Staples Singers, Carla Thornas and Jerry Butler.
While at a music fair he met King Curtis who took him to Atco / Atlantic Records, who signed him as a solo artist.
An album 'Donny Hathaway' was released in 1970.
Donny's albums included 'Everything is Everything', 'Come Back Charleston Blue' (a soundtrack) and 'Extensions Of A Man', including 'Flying Easy', 'Love Love Love', 'Someday We'll All Be Free' and 'Valdez In The Country'.
He also recorded the theme song for the TV series 'Maude'.
His compositions were recorded by acts such as Aretha Franklin and Jerry Butler, however, Donny is best remembered for his duets with Roberta Flack.
The coupling reached their pinnacle on the singles 'Where Is The Love' (1972) and 'The Closer I Get To You' (1978), both of which reached the US Top 5.
Sessions for a second album of duets with Roberta were underway when, on the 13th January 1979, Donny was found dead on the sidewalk below the 15th floor window of his room in New York's Essex House hotel.
The glass had been carefully removed from the window, and there were no signs of struggle, leading investigators to rule his death a suicide.
Donny's close friends were mystified, considering that his career had been on the ascendancy.Towards the end of his life he suffered from personal and identity problems, which hospitalised him from time to time.
He left a number of children including daughter Lalah Hathaway.
In 1980, Hathaway achieved a posthumous UK number 3 hit with another Roberta Flack duet, 'Back Together Again'.
...why not take a listen to Donny singing 'Lord Help Me', a rare single on Atco from 1972, right here...
delivery, and timbre have influenced singers from Stevie Wonder to George Benson, while his compositions have been recorded by an array of artists from Cold Blood to Jerry Butler, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, and Aretha Franklin. Hathaway was born in Chicago, but grew up in St. Louis and began singing gospel at age three. He attended Howard University on a fine arts scholarship and was a classmate of Roberta Flack. He began recording for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label in 1969, then signed with Atco. His single "The Ghetto" was a mild hit, but the duet "You've Got a Friend" with Flack was his first Top Ten R&B hit. The duo would later score two number one hit duets, "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You," each of which was also a Top Ten pop hit. The duo had two final hits, "You Are My Heaven" and "Back Together Again," in 1980, after Hathaway stunned everyone by committing suicide in 1979 at age 33. Ron Wynn, All-Music Guide 
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